As the effects of the coronavirus pandemic increasingly take hold, a rising number of New Jersey school districts are announcing early dismissals or closures for planning and cleaning purposes. Others are shutting down due to students and personnel being exposed to COVID-19.

As of late Wednesday, 23 people have tested positive for coronavirus in New Jersey. Twenty tests for the virus are pending, while another 31 cases are being investigated.

A Red Bank Regional High School student is among those who have tested positive. The high school said it would transition to a virtual school instruction plan until further notice.

In the Jersey City school district, students went home early Wednesday so educators could prepare three weeks worth of home instruction packets in case the school is forced to close.

A number of New Jersey colleges have also made announcements about their statuses, with many of them significantly altering their schedules.

• Mahwah schools will be closed Friday so staff can prepare a coronavirus plan.

• North Arlington schools are scheduled to close early on Thursday and Friday to continue planning and preparing for a potential school closure, the district superintendent announced.

• The Frisch School, a private school in Paramus announced last week it be closed for several days after dozens of its students were potentially exposed to the coronavirus at a bat mitzvah in New York last month.

BURLINGTON COUNTY

• Delran schools will operate on delayed opening schedule on Monday and Tuesday in order to plan for the possibility of the state asking the district to shut down due to coronavirus.

• Fairfield schools will have a single-session day on Thursday to prepare for the potential of a school health-related closure.

• Livingston Public Schools will have an early dismissal on Friday, March 13. All facilities will be closed March 16-27, and students will use remote learning.

• Millburn schools will have an early dismissal Friday, March 13. Beginning Monday, March 16, the schools will be closed for two weeks.

• Montclair schools will be closed on Friday for professional development for staff if schools are required to close in the future. The district announced Monday that a staff member was being tested for coronavirus and was in self-quarantine at home until her laboratory results were returned.

• People’s Prep in Newark will be closed until March 16 after a staff member found out that he spent time with people who were in a location where someone who now has a confirmed case of COVID-19 had been at some point earlier in the week.

• South Orange & Maplewood School District will have an early dismissal Friday, March 13.

HUDSON COUNTY

• The Hoboken Public School District and the Hoboken Charter Schools (Elysian, HoLa, and Hoboken Charter) will close starting Monday, March 16, for two weeks. Each school has made preparations for remote learning programs, and will communicate those plans directly to parents. The Hoboken Public School District will provide breakfast and lunch service to all students who qualify for free and reduced lunch in any of the four public school districts. Meal service will be available for pick up from 8:30-10:30am and can be picked up from the Ninth Street side door (between Clinton and Grand Streets) of the Hoboken High School cafeteria.

• Jersey City School District will close all schools the week of March 16. Schools will be open Friday, March 13, and students will be sent home with assignments. Over the weekend, the district will let students and parents know where and when to pick up meals.

MERCER COUNTY

• Robbinsville Schools have cancelled events through March 21 and will be close on Friday for staff development in anticipation of possible future closures.

• Trenton schools have canceled classes on Thursday for planning and Friday for cleaning.

• South River Public Schools will be closed Thursday, March 12 due to a recently identified case of coronavirus in a neighboring town said. As of this time, there are no known cases of COVID-19 in South River.

• Highland Park schools will close on Friday, March 13 after a student had contact with a confirmed case of coronavirus. They will sanitize and potentially close Monday as well. Anything beyond Tuesday will be conducted via remote learning plan.

• Sayreville schools will cancel all classes and activities through Monday, March 16. Beginning Friday, an online learning plan will be implemented.

• Neptune High School and Neptune Middle School will follow an abbreviated schedule Friday, March 13, and Monday, March 16. High school parent teacher conferences are cancelled for March 13. ECC and elementary schools will follow an abbreviated schedule on Monday, March 16.

• Red Bank Regional High School is closed Wednesday after the sibling of a student tested positive for coronavirus. Starting, Thursday, March 12, the school will transition to a virtual school instructional plan until further notice.

MORRIS COUNTY

• East Hanover School District will be closed from Friday, March 13, through Friday, March 27. The district plans a snow day Friday. Beginning March 16, schools will transition to distance learning. All “bolt bags” that have not been picked up will be placed in the offices of the East Hanover Police Department where parents can retrieve them.

• Madison Public Schools are suspending all nonessential activities as of Friday, March 13, including extracurricular activities, concerts and field trips. The facilities will be closed to most outside visitors.

• Parsippany-Troy Hills Township schools sent a letter to parents saying they are preparing a plan for students to continue their lessons remotely and will use their Monday half-day inservice to prepare.

• The Chathams schools will be closed on Friday, March 13 and for a period of two weeks starting Monday. A decision will be made whether to continue the closure by Friday, March 27.

• Wayne schools are closed Friday for an “extensive” cleaning of our buildings, district officials said.

• Hawthorne Christian Academy has cancelled classes for Wednesday and Thursday with Friday’s status to be determined.

• West Milford Schools will have a half-day Friday, March 13. On Monday, March 16, schools will transfer to online learning for at least two weeks.

SOMERSET COUNTY

• Bridgewater-Raritan schools closed, Friday, March 13 through Friday, March 27. Remote learning will begin Monday, March 16. All field trips, school events, and activities are also postponed, effective Monday, March 16.

UNION COUNTY

• Cranford schools will be closed Friday, March 13, as the district puts together its coronavirus plan. (They originally planned to close Monday but moved the planning day earlier.)

• Roselle schools were closed Wednesday so that school and office buildings could be sanitized after the district learned that a staff member made contact with someone who was recently diagnosed with coronavirus. Depending on the test results, the district will operate on an early dismissal schedule on Friday for students only.

• Summit Public Schools will be closed starting on Friday, March 13, and will be closed through spring break, April 6-10.

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Nick Devlin and Arjun Kakkar are part of NJ.com’s Data & Investigations team.

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